True or False: Trimming increases hair growth.

[swearnsue]

I know there have been threads about trimming and that it MIGHT increase growth rate or not. And also I've seen threads about trimming at different phases of the moon might even increase either growth rate or thickness of the hair.

There are also threads for No Trimming for certain periods of time, usually a year.

So, are there any conclusions about trimming and growth rate? Is it another YMMV type of thing?

My hemline is OK I think, not too scraggly or uneven so I wouldn't trim unless it somehow caused a growth spurt. I don't believe it would, it doesn't make sense yet my mind is open to miracles.

I trimmed at some equinox a while back, don't remember exactly, but I just happened to have not a stall in growth but a stall in length due to breakage. So my experiment with trimming and the moon didn't work very well.

Any feedback about trimming and growth????

[lapushka]

I think that "trimming makes your hair grow" is a lot of BS. If you want it to grow, take part in a no-trimming challenge and hang in there for a year or two, or three, or four, if your hair can take it. If there's no damage, and it grows quite evenly, then it should be all right. It's all about having patience, not about being scissor-happy. ;)

[Anje]

I think for most people, it's false. Especially for people who choose to S&D.

However, there are some folks who find that if they don't keep up on tiny trims, they start to get splits that start eating their hair and causing damage that eats away at their growth. They report that regular and SMALL trims allow them to gain more length for a year than if they just let it grow, then have to cut off damage after that period. The trick to this, though is that you actually have to cut off significantly less hair than you gain in growth. Since you only gain (on average) about 0.5 inches each month, one-inch cuts every 8 weeks sure aren't going to allow you to gain length. (It's worth pointing out that the default assumption of most stylists is that you want to maintain a style by trimming back all growth.) Therefore, this requires careful self-trimming or a trustworthy stylist who understands and supports your goal to gain length.

[mindwiped]

I think the only reason trimming would make your hair appear to grow is if mechanical damage was causing breakage, and trimming off the damage stopped the breaks. Therefore; imho, if you've got damage on your ends, you may require a term in order to keep your length healthy, but otherwise terms won't cause extra or new growth.

[curlylocks85]

Speaking from my own personal experiences, trimming does nothing to stimulate my growth. Cutting, for me, only rids my ends of splits.

[Todd]

Hair grows from the root, does it not? I doubt the hair follicle knows if its been trimmed recently or not, or if there's a split way, way down there at the end.

I get occasional trims because I like a nice, straight hemline. And personally, I think I notice when it gets longer sooner after a trim, but its only because its now all one length compared to how it was pre-trim when any additional length was kind of hidden since the hairs were of a million different lengths. But I can't believe the growth rate has accelerated because of the trim.

[spidermom]

YMMV. A former LHC member did an experiment with her husband about 8 years ago. She measured her hair every week and kept records. She always experienced the fastest growth in the week following a trim. The difference was rather tiny, however, and nobody knows exactly why it occurred.

I've been in the unfortunate situation of trying to grow without trimming and experiencing so much damage that I had to trim away all the inches that had grown (7 inches the last time). However, I think I have a handle on growing without damage now, so I'm trying it again, except for trims I have to do (my own rules) when I don't make my weight loss goals.

[tokugawa.miyako]

I stopped trimming almost a year ago and now only do occasional S&D. I have definitely seen much more growth in my hair since I stopped trimming. On the whole, my splits tend to be tiny and they don't seem to travel up the shaft at all. I do plan to start trimming again in order to thicken my hemline eventually, but I honestly don't see how trimming would actually be able to help hair grow.

[RapunzelKat]

YMMV :) For me, I have to do regular small trims or I end up with such badly damaged ends I hit a false terminal. (Right above classic - happened shortly before I joined LHC and started trimming my own hair.) I'd gone about three years without a trim at that point. I had so much damage and breakage from tangles it had become an unending cycle. Now with better care and regular trims I'm at fingertip and still going strong. :D

I think it has a lot to do with hair type - fine textured hair is more likely to need regular trims or S&D to keep gaining length.

So trimming doesn't increase growth rate, but it can help fragile hair retain more length.

[tokugawa.miyako]

I think it has a lot to do with hair type - fine textured hair is more likely to need regular trims or S&D to keep gaining length.


This makes quite a bit of sense. It certainly accounts for why some people experience more length success with trims.

Seems funny that cutting off length could help hair seem longer but hey, hair does what it wants. :p

[yahirwaO.o]

Well Im another advocate of regular trims for fine hair... we just need it.

Now speaking for myself and since I've been micro trimming (other times not so micro) my hair montly for half a year now, I do notice the very obvius thing that my hemline looks greater and somehow lenght does really show better now.
In my logic lenght does have more visual impact when its fuller, thus making some people believe hair is longer after trim, that may be just me.

But regarding the question, I have notice that usually I cut slighly above arm pit when its trimming time, by week 2 its solid arm pit and by the end of the month is fully past and not so far from my chest. To me its not necesarily the trim itself that makes my hair grow like weed, genetics, maybe the egg wash and rosemary rinse and the fact that I do my best to have a super healthy lifesatyle makes more sense to me.

So to sum up, from my own personal experience it does grow faster after my montly trimming but I dont necesarily think its because of the cut and there is my logic reason explained already....or maybe the whole moon has a bit of effectiveness.... Who knows..... :king::king::king:

[hanne jensen]

Trimming removes damage and evens the hemline. End of story. It does not make the hair grow faster. It reduces damage. If one is blessed with strong hair that hardly ever breaks and hair that grows somewhat evenly then it is not neccessary to trim or dust.

I think the myth was started by the hair industry so salons could still earn money off long hairs and people growing out their hair.

[squirrrel]

Mmmm... Trimming gets rid of damage and thickens hemline, full stop. I think I may need to trim yet, but that's because my hair got awfully dry and brittle over the summer (before I found LHC) and I'm slowly taking away the old damage. Given time and regular microtrims (please manage to Make them micro!) my hair will hopefully get healthy enough to sustain greater growth.

[TwilightShadow]

Trimming removes damage and evens the hemline. End of story. It does not make the hair grow faster. It reduces damage. If one is blessed with strong hair that hardly ever breaks and hair that grows somewhat evenly then it is not neccessary to trim or dust.

I think the myth was started by the hair industry so salons could still earn money off long hairs and people growing out their hair.

I agree. Hair grows from the hair follicle, at the ends there are only terminally differentiated keratinized cells. They can't signal to the stem cells present in the hair follicle to divide more. Damaged ends can break off and can produce tangles, causing further breakage. That's why it is possible for untrimmed fine hair to get shorter.

[M-L-E]

I was told by hair stylists for years that you should have a trim every 6 weeks so that hair can "grow properly" (-_-) It is not true! As people have already mentioned, hair grows from the root, thus trimming merely prevents damage/evens up hemlines. I had to trim regularly for a year to get rid of serious damage, which kept it at about shoulder length and the trims did not suddenly result in longer hair... But not trimming for 7 months has! :P

[Symbiotek]

I agree with the lot of you. While hair doesn't really grow faster after trims, getting barely noticeable trims every few months instead of getting a big chop once a year makes your hair growth seem more steady and "faster".
I also have the type of hair that needs to be trimmed regularly so it doesn't get ridiculously damaged and start breaking off. A good year and a half ago I went to a hair salon after not going for a full year, and the hairdresser had to cut off at least 7cm to get rid of the damaged ends. Now, getting a trim every 3-4 months, only 1cm needs to be cut off at a time.

[momschicklets]

I'm going to call "rubbish" on this. Unless someone's hair is damaged to the point of severely splitting or breaking off at the ends, there is no reason to trim to try to "increase growth." Growing increases hair growth....not trimming. ;)

[curlylocks85]

I'm going to call "rubbish" on this. Unless someone's hair is damaged to the point of severely splitting or breaking off at the ends, there is no reason to trim to try to "increase growth." Growing increases hair growth....not trimming. ;)

Agreed. :)

[Theobroma]

I'm going to call "rubbish" on this. Unless someone's hair is damaged to the point of severely splitting or breaking off at the ends, there is no reason to trim to try to "increase growth." Growing increases hair growth....not trimming. ;)

Exactly.

I've been microtrimming for a year now. 1cm trims every month. And my hair has been growing at the exact same pace of half an inch per month as before I started microtrimming. No change at all in the growth rate.

[embee]

Growing increases hair growth....not trimming. ;)

Yes. Exactly so.

The hairs do not care how long or short they are. They grow from the root.

[truepeacenik]

The important words in th deciding what trimming does accomplish are growth and length.

Length is Growth minus Damage.

Trimming will not affect growth. Trimming removes damage. Or is damage, if you look at this as an equation,
L=G-D.

Let's say my hair grows six inches in a year. Let's say my splits travel an inch each year. To be sure, I get the majority of the slplits, I'll trim off an inch and a half. So while I had six inches of growth, I gained four and a half of length. Length is almost a functional term.
G=6, D =1.5 (damage trimmed off), so L= 6- 1.5, or 4.5.

Why does a hair stylist suggest trims each six weeks? To keep the cut/design/style. That is their job, to keep the client in a style they requested, or develop a design for them. It is, in a way, artistry.
It's not an evil plot against long hairs. No one forces you to sit in their chairs. This isn't North Korea or Singapore. (I have a friend who was arrested for long hair and had a government-forced chop in Singapore. He moved to the US)

I might have observed once that an unusual number of my high school cohorts took advantage of technical education and got Cosmo licenses, and equated that with the number of babies at graduation (our town was really, really dull), but I don't think they are out to track long hairs down and give us all soccer mom bobs and AARP poodle perms.

[furnival]

Strangely enough, trimming actually makes hair shorter. :p

[Nightshade]

False.

Trimming does not increase growth it reduces breakage.

That said, S&D and microtrimming are much more effective when it comes to gaining length than the traditional "take off two inches" trims. And only trim when needed not every X weeks. People with damaged or fine hair may need trims more often than people with undamaged or thicker hair. :)

[hendy]

False.

Trimming does not increase growth it reduces breakage.

That said, S&D and microtrimming are much more effective when it comes to gaining length than the traditional "take off two inches" trims. And only trim when needed not every X weeks. People with damaged or fine hair may need trims more often than people with undamaged or thicker hair. :)

100% agree.. my hair wouldn't go past APL, I could see the growth in my roots, but when the time came for a trim, the damage was always so much that my hairdresser would just cut back to APL (I have layers, so the damage made the ends almost invisible)... repeat every 3 months for I can't remember how many years....
Actually, this is how I stumbled upon this forum, trying to find a way out of this loop.
1 year of updos and braids and microtrimming (+ only 1 "real" cut to get better hemline) and now my long layers are a couple of fingers away from waist and the shortest at APL, my previous "maximum"

[momschicklets]

Strangely enough, trimming actually makes hair shorter. :p

That made me bust out :laugh::laugh:

[momschicklets]

False.

Trimming does not increase growth it reduces breakage.

That said, S&D and microtrimming are much more effective when it comes to gaining length than the traditional "take off two inches" trims. And only trim when needed not every X weeks. People with damaged or fine hair may need trims more often than people with undamaged or thicker hair. :)

Yes...very good delineation made here...

[swearnsue]

Thank you everyone for the brilliant yet common sense! So this leads to the fact that we need to reduce damage to the ends so that trimming won't be needed. Trimming is still useful for other reasons, change in hemline or length or just for fun. I really like to trim my hair because it feels like I'm DOING something. But I'm not going to for a long time.

Now that I use silicone conditioners and leave ins, I don't get dry damaged ends. At least not yet. I think growing hair is something that never ends, there is always something to learn, a new season to deal with, and as we age our hair changes. So growing hair is definitely a journey and not a destination. I'm enjoying the journey, and everyone's input and advice!

[Annalouise]

False.

Trimming does not increase growth it reduces breakage.

That said, S&D and microtrimming are much more effective when it comes to gaining length than the traditional "take off two inches" trims. And only trim when needed not every X weeks. People with damaged or fine hair may need trims more often than people with undamaged or thicker hair. :)

I don't understand? Why does trimming "reduce breakage"?

[PraiseCheeses]

I don't understand? Why does trimming "reduce breakage"?

I think - someone please jump in if I'm wrong - it's because trimming removes splits and rough, damaged ends, which reduces tangling, which reduces breakage. Split ends can "travel" up the shaft of the hair, which can lead to the hair breaking off at a higher point or wrapping itself around healthy hairs, making knots... which we tend to break or stretch when combing. I tried the whole "go a year without trimming" challenge a while back... and I ended up needing a huge trim in July because my ends were a nightmare to the point that they were wreaking havoc on the healthy hair. As someone with fine, dry, and fragile hair, I gain more length when I keep up regular trims. (I'm still scratching my head, however, at my hair's ability to make a nine-way Christmas tree/Y split hybrid in spite of its small diameter. It must be a superpower.)

[Nightshade]

I think - someone please jump in if I'm wrong - it's because trimming removes splits and rough, damaged ends, which reduces tangling, which reduces breakage. Split ends can "travel" up the shaft of the hair, which can lead to the hair breaking off at a higher point or wrapping itself around healthy hairs, making knots... which we tend to break or stretch when combing. I tried the whole "go a year without trimming" challenge a while back... and I ended up needing a huge trim in July because my ends were a nightmare to the point that they were wreaking havoc on the healthy hair. As someone with fine, dry, and fragile hair, I gain more length when I keep up regular trims. (I'm still scratching my head, however, at my hair's ability to make a nine-way Christmas tree/Y split hybrid in spite of its small diameter. It must be a superpower.)

Correct :) Clean non-velcro ends tangle less and therefore break less. It's better to do small trims to keep the ends nice (like 1/4 in) often (say once a month) than a bit 2-3 inch chop every couple months. Eventually with microtrimming the ends will tangle less, break less, and need to be trimmed less often.

[Annalouise]

I think - someone please jump in if I'm wrong - it's because trimming removes splits and rough, damaged ends, which reduces tangling, which reduces breakage. Split ends can "travel" up the shaft of the hair, which can lead to the hair breaking off at a higher point or wrapping itself around healthy hairs, making knots... which we tend to break or stretch when combing. I tried the whole "go a year without trimming" challenge a while back... and I ended up needing a huge trim in July because my ends were a nightmare to the point that they were wreaking havoc on the healthy hair. As someone with fine, dry, and fragile hair, I gain more length when I keep up regular trims. (I'm still scratching my head, however, at my hair's ability to make a nine-way Christmas tree/Y split hybrid in spite of its small diameter. It must be a superpower.)

Thank you PraiseCheeses! (cute name) Please see my further questions below...


Correct :) Clean non-velcro ends tangle less and therefore break less. It's better to do small trims to keep the ends nice (like 1/4 in) often (say once a month) than a bit 2-3 inch chop every couple months. Eventually with microtrimming the ends will tangle less, break less, and need to be trimmed less often.

Thank you Nightshade. :)
But that is 3" trimming in one year or only 3" growth! It would take forever to reach one's goal length if they only gained 3" in one year? Isn't there an alternative? I understand who wants to reach their goal length with a hot mess of split ends? But isn't there a way to grow 6" in a year, or lets say 5" and not have split ends? Doesn't a leave-in on the ends, or oiling the ends, or wearing hair in protective styles for example, prevent rough dry or split ends?

[Nightshade]

Thank you Nightshade. :)
But that is 3" trimming in one year or only 3" growth! It would take forever to reach one's goal length if they only gained 3" in one year? Isn't there an alternative? I understand who wants to reach their goal length with a hot mess of split ends? But isn't there a way to grow 6" in a year, or lets say 5" and not have split ends? Doesn't a leave-in on the ends, or oiling the ends, or wearing hair in protective styles for example, prevent rough dry or split ends?

I don't think everyone needs monthly 1/4 in trims. :) When I first came here I had very, very damaged hair. So damaged it had broken off from my hips to my armpits. I wound up trimming half my growth a month (so in my case 1/4 inch) which let me gain length (ever so slowly) and remove the damage (also ever so slowly). Because of the degree of damage, I would have continued to lose more length to damage had I left it unchecked. (In my case, I had started oiling, wearing updos, etc, but the damage was already done and it was too great for these things alone to mitigate the tangly velcro ends.)

After many months, I was able to push that 1/4 in trim back an extra week or two, and then after a year or so it was only once a month, and now with totally unchemically processed hair, I trim just once a year to neaten up my hemline a bit.

(You can read the damaged hair article in my siggy which talks about all this in more detail.)

How much and how often you trim should be dictated by your goals and necessity rather than some arbitrary number of weeks. If your ends tangle and break easily because of damage, then you'll need to trim a little bit more often. If your hair doesn't need neatening or damage removal, you can postpone trimming until you do :)

[Annalouise]

I don't think everyone needs monthly 1/4 in trims. :) When I first came here I had very, very damaged hair. So damaged it had broken off from my hips to my armpits. I wound up trimming half my growth a month (so in my case 1/4 inch) which let me gain length (ever so slowly) and remove the damage (also ever so slowly). Because of the degree of damage, I would have continued to lose more length to damage had I left it unchecked. (In my case, I had started oiling, wearing updos, etc, but the damage was already done and it was too great for these things alone to mitigate the tangly velcro ends.)

After many months, I was able to push that 1/4 in trim back an extra week or two, and then after a year or so it was only once a month, and now with totally unchemically processed hair, I trim just once a year to neaten up my hemline a bit.

(You can read the damaged hair article in my siggy which talks about all this in more detail.)

How much and how often you trim should be dictated by your goals and necessity rather than some arbitrary number of weeks. If your ends tangle and break easily because of damage, then you'll need to trim a little bit more often. If your hair doesn't need neatening or damage removal, you can postpone trimming until you do :)

Thanks for clarifying that Nightshade. I hear you now. :popcorn: If one's hair is virgin and not damaged then of course you don't need to keep trimming it along the way and you can go for maximum length gain in a year. I think that is why prevention is the key. Don't damage the hair in the first place and it will be much easier to grow it.
But we all know that hair salons frequently encourage damaging hair practices such as chemical processing, flat ironing and blow drying. Then these poor people have to deal with that damage when they decide to grow their hair out. There should be more long hair salons.

I'm going to check out your articles thanks!:)